National Assembly of the Gambia

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National Assembly
Coat of arms or logo
Type
Type
Leadership
Speaker
Abdoulie Bojang
Since 12 November 2010
Structure
Seats 53
Political groups
      Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction 43
     National Reconciliation Party 1
     Independent 4
     Appointed 5
Elections
First-past-the-post and appointments by the President
Last election
 29 March 2012
Meeting place
Parliament Buildings, Banjul
Website
The Gambian National Assembly

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. The National Assembly is the legislative branch of government in the Gambia.

Composition and electoral system

The National Assembly is unicameral and consists of 53 members who serve a five-year term. 48 members are directly elected while the remaining five are appointed by the President. Members are elected in single-member constituencies using the simple majority, or First-past-the-post system.

History

Legislative representation based on universal adult suffrage in the Gambia began in May 1962, when elections were held for a 32-seat House of Representatives. These elections were won by the People's Progressive Party (PPP), which was led by Dawda Jawara. After independence in 1965, the PPP continued to dominate the House of Representatives by winning a series of free, democratic elections in 1966, 1972, 1977, 1982, 1987, and 1992. While opposition parties were continuously present in the House, they were never able to successfully wrest power from the PPP. Jawara's government was overthrown in a July 1994 military coup led by Yahya Jammeh. The constitution and all elected institutions, including the House of Representatives, were dissolved. After the coup, political party activities were banned. The ban was lifted in August 1996 following the approval of a new constitution, but three Jawara-era parties - the PPP, Gambian People's Party (GPP), and the National Convention Party (NCP) remained proscribed.

Legislative elections to the renamed National Assembly took place on 2 January 1997. Jammeh's Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) won 33 out of 45 seats, the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) won 7, two went to both the National Reconciliation Party (NRP) and Independents, while the People's Democratic Organization for Independence and Socialism (PDOIS) captured the remaining seat.

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) lifted the ban on the PPP, GPP, and NCP in August 2001, five months before the next scheduled legislative election.

2012 election

e • d Summary of the 29 March 2012 Gambian parliamentary election results
Parties Votes % Seats +/–
Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction 80,289 51.82 43 +1
National Reconciliation Party 14,606 9.43 1 –
Independents 60,055 38.76 4 +3
Invalid/blank votes 0 – – –
Total 154,950 100 48 0
Registered voters/turnout 796,929 38.71 – –
Source: Independent Electoral Commission, IFES

Leadership

The Speaker and Deputy Speaker may only be chosen from among the presidential appointees to the National Assembly, not the elected members.[1]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Political Parties of the World (6th edition, 2005), ed. Bogdan Szajkowski, page 242.

External links

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